Mystery: The Witch of Desire

A large number of wounded people began to emerge from all directions—some with minor injuries, such as tattered clothes, scratches, and bruises; others were shocking, with missing eyes and missing arms, lying on the ground howling in pain, in a very pitiful state.

The riverside theater in the distance seemed shrouded in dark clouds, as if something terrible was gathering.

Levi swallowed hard; his intuition told him that the road ahead was too dangerous and he shouldn't go any further.

Lisa looked at the horrific scene around her, her face filled with fear. But her four companions were still in the theater. After hesitating for a moment, Lisa gritted her teeth and continued running towards the Riverside Theater.

"Lisa!"

Reeve called out behind her, but couldn't stop her. He steeled himself and rushed forward to try and pull her back.

However, Lisa ran incredibly fast and reached the theater entrance in the blink of an eye, with the assassin Levi barely managing to keep up with her.

Upon reaching the door, the air was filled with an increasingly eerie and heavy stench of blood. Limbs and blood mingled together, and the ground was littered with mutilated corpses and dying wounded. Whether dead or alive, their faces bore a morbidly fanatical desire.

In this eerie and terrifying atmosphere, Levi felt a significant change in his body. A surge of heat coursed through his body, and intense desires stirred within him, making him wish he could just pick any corpse and vent his lust like the injured.

Revi barely managed to suppress the intense urge through instinct, caught up with Lisa, whose pace was slowing down, and grabbed her arm.

Lisa staggered and turned around, her expression blank, drool dripping from the corner of her mouth, her eyes gradually filled with endless fervor. But as if she still had an obsession in her heart, she struggled to break free from Levi and continue running into the theater.

"Lisa, run! It's dangerous here!"

Revi pulled hard, trying to drag Lisa away.

But suddenly the force vanished, and Levi staggered backward, nearly falling. Looking down, he saw that he was clutching an arm that had already begun to rot.

He looked up, trembling:

Lisa, standing ahead, had lost an arm. Thick, pus-like blood oozed from the severed area. Her expression was numb; she seemed oblivious to the pain, standing there blankly.

The next moment, the dark clouds above the theater rapidly gathered, twisting into a chaotic shape, and Xia Lani's eerie singing voice echoed from the theater again:

"Great Mother, Great Father, we call upon you, we yearn for you, we pray for your return..."

The moment the song ended, Lisa's expression turned frenzied. Her beautiful face opened into a gaping maw that stretched to her ears, and she twisted her body in a bizarre manner as she charged toward Levi.

She hissed and growled, her body gradually rotting, oozing pale yellow pus, and sprouting bud-like protrusions.

The other corpses and wounded around them underwent the same mutation; their bodies rapidly decayed, and budding flower petals sprouted from their surfaces. Even the dead struggled to their feet, transforming into terrifying monsters like countless mutated Samiras.

Startled by the horrifying sight, Reeves' mind went blank for a moment.

By the time he realized what was happening, he was surrounded by raging waves.

He quickly turned and ran back, but Lisa's heavy footsteps grew closer and closer.

boom!

Lisa suddenly tackled him from behind, splashing him with foul-smelling, sticky fluid.

Reeve struggled desperately, but to no avail. The incredibly strong Lisa grabbed his arm and ripped it off.

A sharp pain instantly swept through his body, and Rivi almost went into shock. His vision blurred, and the scene before him became indistinct.

Lisa's fervent desire reached its peak, and all the flower buds on her body bloomed, turning into flowers with gaping mouths and oozing pus.

Life spread wildly across this land shrouded in desire, with emerald vines entwining the mangled bodies and crimson petals soaked in blood, growing unchecked and rampant.

In this frenzy of desire and vitality, Lisa grabbed both severed arms and thrust them violently into the two flower buds in her lower abdomen.

She let out a wail of satisfied desire, as if singing a heartfelt hymn of praise.

Like Lisa, all the monsters inserted various things into the flower buds on their bodies, emitting mournful screechs.

Amidst countless frenzied roars, desire surged and churned like a raging torrent, sweeping and surging in all directions.

Amidst this madness, a gaze from the vast sky gradually coalesced and fell directly upon Rivi.

Levi's thoughts froze instantly, his mind going completely blank.

Only the piercing pain in his chest that went deep into his soul reminded him that he was still alive.

……

boom!

Levi's thoughts seemed to explode, leaving him feeling as if he had been struck by lightning.

The gaze that descended from the heavens, carrying an ancient desolation and oppressive aura, shattered suddenly. Levi's heart pounded wildly, his whole body trembled violently, and he fell from his seat.

Lisa, who was perfectly healthy, was startled and quickly helped him up, asking:

"Livia, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Inside the theater, the crowd roared and applause thundered; on stage, Sharani continued to sing her hymns:

Great mother,

Great Father,

We call upon you,

We yearn for you.

We pray for your arrival…

Chapter 47 After the Report

Rivi's hair stood on end instantly.

What just happened is still vivid in my mind; it was far more than just a dream.

Was it a premonition? Or a hallucination? Or some kind of revelation?

Whatever the truth may be, one thing is certain:

Sharonie has a big problem, the Riverside Theatre has a big problem, and they could very well trigger a terrible disaster.

Levi could now clearly sense that the atmosphere around him was obviously abnormal—the audience’s fervor was unnatural, less spontaneous than as if they were being manipulated and guided, as if an invisible hand was stirring their desires in the dark.

The performance is far from over, and as it continues, the audience's fervor and desire may intensify. When this desire reaches a certain point, a terrible disaster might strike…

Levi felt increasingly horrified. If the disaster occurred, the number of dead and injured would be extremely terrifying. The evil god might even unleash its power to destroy countless lives.

They must be stopped immediately!

"However, there are at least three extraordinary individuals at the Riverside Theater. I'm afraid it will be difficult for me to accomplish this with my own strength alone..."

Reeve quickly considered who he could ask for help from.

Seek Rowling's help? She's only a Sequence 9; two Sequence 9s together can't cause much trouble. Ask Ms. B for help? She doesn't seem like the type to have that kind of sense of justice; she might not be willing to get involved in such a thorny problem…

While pondering this, Levi suddenly remembered someone—Ms. Daly, who had given him her address.

"By the way, I can ask the official Extraordinary for help. No matter what internal conflicts they may have, their stance on maintaining order and the safety of citizens is always firm."

Reeves rummaged through his pockets and found the note that Ms. Daly had left for him:

36 Zotland Street, 2nd Floor, Blackthorn Security Company.

He was glad that he carried the note with him, which was personally signed by Ms. Daly. With it, the official extraordinary would definitely pay more attention to it.

Revi quickly feigned a pained expression and said to Lisa:

"Lisa, I'm not feeling well, could you take me to the clinic?"

Lisa glanced at Sharon on the stage with some reluctance, but still decisively helped Levi up and left the theater with him.

Once outside the theater, Levi quickly flagged down a horse-drawn carriage and jumped in alone.

Seeing the agile Reeves, Lisa's expression froze instantly—this didn't look like she was unwell at all.

"Lisa, it's dangerous in the theater, don't go back!"

Reeve instructed Lisa to ask the driver to get to Blackthorn Security Company as quickly as possible, for a fee of one pound.

Having received the fare, the driver mustered all his strength, vigorously cracking his whip, and drove the rickshaw toward Zotland Street.

Inside the swaying carriage, Levi pondered his next move.

After careful consideration, given his numerous secrets and deep ties to the Hyena Gang, Levi decided to file an anonymous report.

He found paper and pen and wrote down a note:

The Riverside Theater is worshipping an evil god, and disaster could break out at any time. Please resolve this immediately.

He glued the note together with the one left by Ms. Daly, tied a stone to it, and planned to throw it through the window of the Blackthorn Security Company.

Time was of the essence, and he didn't have time to cut out the words from the book to piece together the paper strips, so he could only use his own handwriting—although there was some risk in handwriting identification, it wasn't a big problem.

With everything prepared, Levi patiently waited for the carriage to arrive at its destination.

After waiting for a while, Levi felt something was wrong. With the carriage running at full speed, they should have arrived at Zotland Street by now.

Just as he was about to open the car window to check the outside, the air inside the car suddenly became cold and damp.

Levi cautiously reached for the pistol in his pocket, and just then, a cold muzzle was pressed against the back of his head.

"It's best not to move, or you might die."

A somewhat cold female voice rang out, carrying a hint of cruelty.

"when……"

Reeve slowly raised his hands, glancing sideways behind him as he observed:

A woman with long, dark hair was pointing a gun at him. Her face was pale and delicate, a half-smile playing on her lips, her eyes deep and bloodshot, like a demon straight out of a book. Her slender figure was clad in black, yet her hand holding the gun was remarkably steady, exuding a chilling calmness.

“Let me introduce myself,” the woman said, her voice devoid of any emotion. “My name is Evelyn, and I own the Riverside Theatre. You should know why I approached you.”

"The owner of the Riverside Theater! That means this woman is the leader of the Hyena Gang, and very likely a Sequence 8 Beyonder like Samira."

Reeves pondered nervously, then forced himself to remain calm and said:

“I don’t know why you contacted me. I just came to the Riverside Theatre to see a performance, but I left early because I wasn’t feeling well. I don’t think I offended you in any way.”

Evelyn revealed a cruel smile:

"Let me remind you, I'm only giving you this opportunity to talk because you have the potential to become a follower of the Great Master. If you don't cooperate, I have a hundred ways to make you wish you were dead."

Levi's heart skipped a beat: Become a follower of the Great Master? Does she want to turn me against her?

Evelyn paused briefly, her gaze lingering on Levi's face for a moment, before continuing:

“My great master granted me the ability to track the location of items that once belonged to me. I have always wanted to sense the location of a certain item that once belonged to me, but I have never been able to do so, as if it had suddenly disappeared.”

Upon hearing this, Levi was immediately startled. This was the very ability he had used when hunting the Demon Throat Honeydew! This was actually a gift from that evil god? Did this mean he had already been corrupted by the evil god?! Was it because of that statue?

Evelyn gave him no time to think, her voice laced with amusement:

"Just now, I sensed the location of that item again, and I immediately tracked its trail, which led me here."

As she spoke, an excited smile appeared on her face:

“You should know what I’m talking about. It was a statue of a great master. I entrusted it to Samira at the Kingfisher Bar for safekeeping, but with that idiot Samira’s death, the statue disappeared.”

“I once thought that the statue was destroyed because Samira was corrupted, but I never expected that she would appear on you today.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Evelyn's eyes turned cold, and her voice suddenly became sharp:

"Tell me, what happened? Where is the statue now!"

Levi broke out in a cold sweat, his mind racing:

Evelyn hadn't been able to sense the statue's location before, but she suddenly could just now. What strange thing happened...?

Suddenly, he realized the key point:

The singing, Xia Lani's singing!

Chapter 48 The Gifter

Levi fell into deep thought:

"So, that statue really was absorbed into my body, and not only that, I also received a blessing from the evil god..."

"Shalani's singing activated the statue within me. Could the catastrophic scenes I witnessed earlier also be related to the activation of that statue?"

Evelyn was clearly dissatisfied with Levi's silence. She looked Levi up and down, noticing that the fitted long dress didn't seem to have any room to accommodate an object the size of a statue.

Her gaze then fell on Levi's lower abdomen, and a mocking smile appeared on her face:

"You wouldn't have done what that idiot Samira did, stuffing the statue inside your body, would you? How utterly foolish! Samira only uses such perverted behavior to satisfy her base desires. This isn't piety towards the great master, it's blasphemy! No wonder that idiot died in the great master's wrath!"

As she spoke, she held a gun to Levi's head with one hand and reached for his lower abdomen with the other.

Levi's heart tightened. If he revealed his true identity and they found out that he was the person they were looking for on their wanted list, he would be in big trouble.